Isn't this old technology?

[Monty 35]

From Fire Engineering's web site

EKG by cell phone helps paramedics save lives

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (August 22, 2006)

Aug. 22--Each minute that elapses between an emergency phone call and the hospital can mean the difference between life and death for heart attack patients.

To minimize that time, Hilton Head Fire and Rescue has installed new technology in each of its eight ambulances that will allow paramedics to perform electrocardiograms, or EKGs, and transmit the results instantly to Hilton Head Regional Medical Center.

The minute an ambulance arrives for a patient, paramedics can perform an EKG, a test that records the heart's electrical activity in a visual graph. Using wireless technology, technicians can send the results by cell phone to the hospital's emergency room while the ambulance is en route.

"When we arm the doctors with this EKG before the ambulance arrives at hospital, we enable them to make decisions prior to the patient's arrival," said Tom Bouthillet, a Hilton Head firefighter paramedic. "In theory, this saves up to 20 minutes to treat a patient."

The ambulances have had the EKG machines for about five years, Bouthillet said, but problems with the cell phone adapters plagued the reliability of the system.

Now, with newly installed "Bluetooth" technology, paramedics can communicate diagnostic-quality EKG results directly to the hospital's receiving system, which sounds an alarm and flashes a computer monitor to alert emergency department physicians of an incoming image.

"There's a huge benefit of receiving the EKG in advance," said Dr. Robert Clodfelter, chief of the medical staff and emergency department director at Hilton Head Regional. "Generally speaking, the more time you save, the more heart muscle you save."

In one case Clodfelter was involved in, the advance EKG allowed enough time for a cardiologist to be waiting for an incoming heart attack patient at the door to the emergency room. Moments later, the patient was whisked into the catheterization lab for a procedure.

"It's a great tool to enhance our communications," he said. "And it helps us spring into action for a potential cardiac condition."

So far, only Hilton Head Fire and Rescue, which primarily serves Hilton Head Island, and the Hilton Head hospital have implemented the system in the area. But Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services' ambulance fleet isn't far behind, said deputy director Rusty Hollingsworth.

The county emergency vehicles, which service Beaufort Memorial Hospital, Coastal Carolina Medical Center in Hardeeville and the Hilton Head hospital, currently have the capability to fax EKGs to hospitals using cell phones. But the county has budgeted money for this fiscal year to install Bluetooth technology similar to that used by Hilton Head Island, Hollingsworth said.

Jasper County Emergency Medical Services vehicles have EKG technology, and officials there are looking into new equipment to communicate results with hospitals.

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Copyright © 2006, The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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Am I getting old, or was this capability in use in Rampart many years ago with Squad 51?

I know they didn't have bluetooth back then but .....

[res6cue 67]

Telemetry. Nothing new here, they've been using it since the early days of the space program, and indeed for pre-hospital EKG for decades. I find it a bit odd that nowhere in the article is the word "telemetry" even mentioned. It's almost as if they're trying to pass off decades old technology as something new and groundbreaking. Sure, the mode of transmission might be updated, but the premise and end result is exactly the same.

[Guest WolfEMT]

So I'm assuming that it will be a little over a decade from now when they discover that a Nextel can plug into a Lifepack 12...

[huzzie59 75]

Squad 51 to Rampart Emergency!

[Skooter92 7]

You mean we're back to using THIS?!

[Guest]

You mean we're back to using THIS?!

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There are systems in this country where the paramedic reads the EKG identifies a STEMI and based on the medics assessment the cath team is brought in and the pt goes directly to the cath lab without having to transmit an EKG.

[Guest stephentyler20]

Of course, telemetry is old news, it's been around forever, but I think what they might be referring to is the wireless feature. Lifepak 12's can be equipped with bluetooth technology, so a 12-lead can be transmitted totally wirelessly from LP12 --> cell phone --> receiving ED with the push of a few buttons. That's pretty neat stuff.

Also, let's face it. The technology might have been around for a while, but it's been a while (current locale aside) since I've seen a place that had an efficient, operating telemetry system.

[xfirefighter484x 234]

The scariest part about all this is that I just watched a video in my EMT class today, showing the history of EMS, and in fact they mentioned the telemetry data being able to be sent to hospitals. Can't place my finger on which decade, but that just goes to show, like everyone else has said, if I can't place my finger on WHICH decade.....kinda of shows its been around a while, huh? lol

Sorry, had to chime in my two cents. Just found it interesting I saw about this in EMT today.